FAA Safety Probe Targets 11 Air Carriers

Aviation Officials Investigating 17 Cases In Which Carriers Did Not Comply With Safety Directives

(AP)  Federal aviation officials said Friday they are investigating 17 cases in which 11 air carriers did not comply with government safety directives.

The cases were uncovered during a major effort by the Federal Aviation Administration to verify whether air carriers follow the agency's safety orders as required.

The first phase of the inquiry earlier this spring found seven instances in which four carriers had not complied with safety orders. FAA officials declined to identify the carriers and said they did not know if some of the new cases involve carriers already under investigation.

The inquiries were announced by FAA administrator Robert Sturgell, who said 98 percent of the 5,600 safety directives audited by the agency had been followed by the carriers. He said the relatively few cases in which safety directives weren't followed indicates there is a high level of safety in the U.S. air traffic system. He noted that the U.S. hasn't experienced a major airline accident in over two years.

"These kinds of numbers are not an accident, it's not a miracle, it's not luck," Sturgell said. "It's the result of an entire team effort - the government, the industry, Congress, everybody involved in the aviation system - producing the safety net we have today."

David Castelveter, a spokesman for the Air Transport Association, which represents the airline industry, said the association is pleased with the audit findings.

Besides the 17 cases, most of the discrepancies uncovered by the audits "were generally technical and did not impact safety," Castelveter said. Nevertheless, they "serve as a useful reminder that we can always do better," he said.

The FAA has been under fire from members of Congress who say it has treated the airlines it oversees as clients, fostering a cozy relationship at odds with vigilant safety enforcement.

Agency inspectors testified at a congressional hearing in April that their jobs were threatened when they reported maintenance and inspection problems with some airlines.

FAA took the rare step this spring of ordering the audit of maintenance records at all domestic airlines following reports of missed safety inspections at Southwest Airlines. The Dallas-based airline was hit with a record $10.2 million fine for continuing to fly dozens of Boeing 737s, which carried an estimated 145,000 passengers, that hadn't been inspected for cracks in their fuselages.

Last month, FAA announced it's seeking $7.1 million from American Airlines for flying airliners after safety problems were reported and for drug-testing violations.

In June, the Department of Transportation launched an investigation into FAA practices, including how the agency reviews flight risk, its air carrier compliance measures and its oversight of maintenance practices.

[jtormey3]

The Bobby Sturgell FAA continues to subject Americans to a steady stream of jumbo-jet aircraft near-misses, unsuspecting flights on defective and unsafe airplanes, and other near-disasters and even actual disasters such as Moab Utah in which 10 innocent people were recently killed. Taken together, these events are in epic numbers since Bobby Sturgell took over as Acting FAA Administrator a year ago, as borne out by current NTSB accident statistics themselves.

Sturgell%u2019s fake regulatory agency the FAA tells us that it is somehow OK for FAA and airlines working together to enlist publicists to tell Americans that air travel was never safer whilst planes are falling apart in un-inspected disrepair, aviation inspectors are criminally threatened by FAA management, and passengers and others on the ground are continually put in harm%u2019s way. FAA is a revival of the Oberstar-decried, Schiavo-decried Tombstone Agency, the notion that %u2018If the plane doesn%u2019t crash, we%u2019re doing great%u2019; the notion that a federal agency is not required to anticipate and navigate around safety problems, but only react if there are one or more tombstones.

There are now 10 new tombstones in Moab. How many more will YOU tolerate as an American?

ejectsturgell

[jtormey3]

The Bobby Sturgell FAA continues to subject Americans to a steady stream of jumbo-jet aircraft near-misses, unsuspecting flights on defective and unsafe airplanes, and other near-disasters and even actual disasters such as Moab Utah in which 10 innocent people were recently killed. Taken together, these events are in epic numbers since Bobby Sturgell took over as Acting FAA Administrator a year ago, as borne out by current NTSB accident statistics themselves.

Sturgell%u2019s fake regulatory agency the FAA tells us that it is somehow OK for FAA and airlines working together to enlist publicists to tell Americans that air travel was never safer whilst planes are falling apart in un-inspected disrepair, aviation inspectors are criminally threatened by FAA management, and passengers and others on the ground are continually put in harm%u2019s way. FAA is a revival of the Oberstar-decried, Schiavo-decried Tombstone Agency, the notion that %u2018If the plane doesn%u2019t crash, we%u2019re doing great%u2019; the notion that a federal agency is not required to anticipate and navigate around safety problems, but only react if there are one or more tombstones.

There are now 10 new tombstones in Moab. How many more will YOU tolerate as an American?

ejectsturgell

[jw218389]

You are so used to corporate journalism that when I ask "what airlines" you say "idiot?".

You are a sad victim of Fox news!

Journalism is more than just reading some GOP schmuck''s press release - the person that wrote this should have followed up.

As someone that has seen the cr@ppy side of part 135 freighters that have scab patches on the control surfaces you should wake up and stop reading the sunny side of these press releases.

If you think 121 is bad you should see the garbage that is flying our skies under 135 freight...

Call me an "idiot" when your engine fails because it was fixed in Borneo with garbage parts from China...

[oldpilot954]

I assume that the article is referring to Part 121 air carriers. To an outsider it sounds simple -- but when any of those 5600 Airworthiness Directives may apply to all of the fleet or none of the fleet and it may be due immediately or a couple of years later. It is easy to miss one. It is also easy to misunderstand a detail of the document. Even if the work is done it is possible to miss documenting what was done, which to the FAA is the same as not doing it. Very few are purposely left undone. Most of the violations I see are in the paper-trail.

[slim1h2o]

Nice reporting!!!!!




--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Posted by jw218389

Because the FAA didn''t release them, that''s why!

[formrusmcsgt]

HEY CBS!!!!

WHICH 11 AIRLINES?????? WHY DIDN''''T YOU NAME THEM!!!??

Nice reporting!!!!!

Posted by jw218389 at 06:43 AM : Sep 06, 2008

Your reading comprehension isn''t "all that", is it?

"FAA officials declined to identify the carriers".....

So, you want CBS to just make up a list do you?

Idiot.

[scottyusa]

The Dallas-based airline was hit with a record $10.2 million fine for continuing to fly dozens of Boeing 737s, which carried an estimated 145,000 passengers, that hadn''t been inspected for cracks in their fuselages. Don''t worry though there was never any danger to passengers. Yeah right. It makes you wonder when there is a radiation leak at a nuclear power plant and they always say there was no danger to the public. Unbelievable

[jw218389]

HEY CBS!!!!

WHICH 11 AIRLINES?????? WHY DIDN''T YOU NAME THEM!!!??

Nice reporting!!!!!

[deacon20081]

Maintenance is for suckers says Nancy-Naive

That explains the rotten teeth hey nann

[alphaa10-2009]

SistaTee said, "It''s hard to check maintenance procedures when all the maintenance is being done in Borneo."
---

Add to that, it''s hard to check maintenance when critical parts are remanufactured and used as "cost-effective" substitutes for new parts.

Nothing against used parts, per se-- provided this practice is safe and not used for critical systems.

But failure rates for critical parts, by manufacturer, are not widely known or circulated. And then, comes the black art of devising a formula for when a part''s MTBF becomes "unsafe".

It''s the equivalent of sending the family car over the border to have a set of recapped tires installed.

All these problems stem from a vicious pressure to cut airline overhead, but without an equal effort at safety and compliance integrity.

[alphaa10-2009]

CBS reports, "The cases were uncovered during a major effort by the Federal Aviation Administration to verify whether air carriers follow the agency''s safety orders as required..."
---

Ya think... the air carriers do stuff when FAA isn''t looking?

And what might a "major effort" by the FAA comprise?

Does it mean actually fielding enough inspectors to do a credible job of monitoring carrier safety?

Does it mean budgeting to keep up a consistent inspection effort? Keeping both frequency and inspection volume where it should be?

There is a reason for all the sleepy-eyed management at FAA-- the agency had been told to keep its expenses low enough to please Bush planners.

No doubt, this FAA investigative effort was not anticipated-- least of all, by the FAA.

[smurfcrusher]

"Some news article. It says the FAA is investigating 11 carriers but fails to name any!!!"

Posted by Rickstas

Republican administration. Naming them might be "bad for business".
Nevermind that our taxes pay their salary. In this Republican administration, the party of Nixon and McCain, industry is more important than individuals.

So, maybe you should avoid ALL of them.

[sistatee-2009]

It''s hard to check maintenance procedures when all the maintenance is being done in Borneo.

[rickstas]

Some news article. It says the FAA is investigating 11 carriers but fails to name any!!!